Pai Pulls Section 706 Advanced Telecom Deployment Draft Report From Circulation
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai withdrew a draft report on advanced telecom deployment (ATC) under Telecom Act Section 706 from the agency's circulation list last week. Then-Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a draft report Jan. 9, which was due to be released…
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by Tuesday (see 1701130069). The final Section 706 report under then-Chairman Julius Genachowski was issued in 2012, and Wheeler's first such report didn't come out until January 2015, so "delay is not atypical in a transition," said a commission spokesman. Network engineer Richard Bennett, who filed comments on an August notice of inquiry, emailed: "The Commission should take as much time as it needs to do the job right. A hastily-prepared, politically-driven report doesn’t do the nation any favors. If 98% of the nation has ATC, as most surveys show, the report should say so." Parties had filed mixed comments on whether advanced telecom capability was being deployed adequately to satisfy the Section 706 mandate (see 1609070039 and 1609220058). Also no longer on circulation are orders on business data services and set-top box rules (see 1701280001).